Top 10 QB's

Here is what I have for ratings at this point:

1. Carson Palmer (USC) - Gone before we pick, possibly #1
2. Byron Leftwich (Marshall) - Injuries could cause him to slide fast, but until more info is released...top 5.
3. Eli Manning (Ole Miss) - Would likely be there for Carolina, but will take a year or 2 to develop.
4. Dave Ragone (Louisville) - Had an up and down year, but showed enough to be a late 1st, early 2nd.
5. Chris Simms (Texas) - Arrogant little turd, but the name and flashes of talent will be enough to get him into the 2nd.
6. Kyle Boller (Cal) - Sleeper, IMO. Probably won't move any higher then the second, but could end up being the best in class?
7. Rex Grossman (Florida) - I don't like him at all, but he's easily a 3rd, maybe late second if workouts shine.
8. Ken Dorksey (Miami) - Don't see him amounting to much, but leadership & playmaking ability will get him a shot.
9. Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech) - Needs time to mature in Pro game.
10. Brian St. Pierre (Boston College) - Another Sleeper, could develop into a steady performer.

As for the Panthers, Manning would be there in the first. However, if were going to wait and develop a guy I'd almost rather grab Boller in the 2nd or even St. Pierre in the 3rd/4th.

Thoughts?

 

Burchett from App State
Seriously I could see Kingsbury being a good prospect.

 

I haven't looked at Burchett enough to really give him a fair word, got any details?

I just don't see Kingbury doing much as a Pro, he'll need alot of work unless he goes to a team whose main pass route is the slip screen. His intermediate and longball will need some work and his delivery has room for improvement.

 

i miss kerry collins, damnit.

carson palmer is the only one on the list that i really, really like.

 

I honestly wouldn't mind anyone of those top 3...

 

Why miss Collins? I don't miss either Collins or Beuerlein. I miss the idea of having an established QB, but those two's times had passed. So to hell with them both.

McF:
>>1. Carson Palmer (USC) - Gone before we pick, possibly #1
>>2. Byron Leftwich (Marshall) -

Agree, I guess, based on where everyone's putting him. I still take Leftwich as higher as a QB - but Palmer better as a prospect. Why? Athleticism - partly that Leftwich's footwork isn't very good. The plus side of that is that even with bad footwork, and even throwing straight off the back foot while hobbled by injury, Leftwich still had velocity. That says a lot. Tangible athleticism goes to Palmer, tangible arm and intangibles (as well as experience - long term starters as pro prospects have less failure - goes to Leftwich.

>>3. Eli Manning (Ole Miss) - Would likely be there for Carolina, but will take a year or 2 to develop.

Depends. He seems to take pressure well, he's had some top competition, and he's not someone who needs to grow up - he'll always be kinda happy-go-lucky. Physically he's matured. So it's just learning the game and getting comfortable.


>>4. Dave Ragone (Louisville) -
>>5. Chris Simms (Texas) -

By arm alone. They're flip sides of one strong armed QB - one's a tough leader like Leftwich, with the gut to match, one's mentally soft but has the arm and a fit physique. Both are inconsistent as hell and have only won a few big games. Someone who can take either and make them sit, and mature, and keep expectations off, can do well. Simms' name might keep him from having that happen, though, especially if he goes to a bad team. Ragone has the ability to be top ten, but like Simms he may never stay consistent enough to be a long term guy.

>>6. Kyle Boller (Cal) - Sleeper, IMO. Probably won't move any higher then the second, but could end up being the best in class?


>>9. Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech) - Needs time to mature in Pro game.

I wouldn't say that. I think he's mature, has the intangibles, and ends up comparing favorably to guys like Heupel or Fiedler - he has more arm, but still just barely enough. If he goes WCO, he'll have success. Not necessarily as a ten year starter, but he won't be stuck on 3rd string for four years and then go to Canada.



My own -
1. Palmer/Leftwich - tie. See above.

3. Manning - will probably have a lifetime's worth of fun playing the game, make a Pro Bowl when his team is at its most talented, and will let criticism bounce off him. Whether he'll win it all is hard to say, but chances are you'll have some Monday night matchups featuring him and his brother long after you'll have gotten tired of it.

4. Boller - yep. I'm a sucker for velocity. Unlike Palmer, Boller has what Leftwich has that I covet in players - both experience and a hot senior season. Boller has athleticism but doesn't have to use it - which I like - has the arm, velocity, accuracy, and seems to have everything together the way he wants it. He, to me, is very much like Palmer in style and ability, and I'm worried a playoff type team like GB or the best of the non-playoffs like Denver will snatch him up and teach him the WCO slowly while airing it out.

5. Ragone - falls behind Boller and should fall further but too talented. He's probably the most physically ready project out there, but he's still a project. I can't see him being a guy that a team starts and keeps starting, not yet. He'll have to sit - not that the others shouldn't - but someone's gonna have to rebuild this one from the ground up. He's got basically all the tools, and should one day get it done.

6. Simms - way too similar to Ragone, but without toughness. The word "coddling" will be all over sports radio wherever he's drafted, and alternately he'll have a legion of devoted fans that'll join his team's fanbase because of him, and will likely defend him to the death, helping heap expectations on him. If one player were to get a Vinny Testaverde - type situation, where he bounces around and finally has success after 30, you've been reading about him for the last few sentences.

7. Kingsbury - arm strength will draw people away from him as an elite but of the caretakers he's probably the best, unless someone takes away the manual thought processes of one of the above - we'll call that one a "Trent Dilfer" for further notice.
He's got enough to get it done and, coupled with an above average run game and a WCO equipped with playaction and a good TE, can probably put up surprising numbers. He's accurate, threw for a fucking ton of yards this year, and will succeed, no doubt in my mind. It just might take some time for him to fight his way into a coach's heart.

8. Grossman - he's not the biggest or best at anything, but he's good, he's got basically every tool, and someone will pick him up knowing he's not the same Florida QB everyone else has made jokes about in draft circles for ten years. It'll take a special situation - a situation like Green Bay or San Francisco - but he'll show up as a special player. Because he has that ability, but won't do shit on a team where he has to actively arrowhead a franchise, he's rated low in my book because of the high chance that he'll end up with a team like the Cardinals rather than, say, the Steelers ( a prime place for a rook, if I do say so, as good as Denver or GB, if you discount the post-Favre expectations).

9. Dorsey - will end up being a steal in the right place, which'll be any of the top 20 teams in the league. He won't rescue a perennially bad team, but chances are whoever he's with will peak with him at QB. Enough velocity, all the accuracy in the world, a leader. His shoulder injury in the last Big Game lowered his stock, and the same thing just happened at the Blue/Gray game. So chances are he falls, gets picked up by a good team on the second day and then within three years his team will be looking to replace him with someone bigger and stronger but that replacement will never succeed in knocking him off. He's a winner, and if he can do better avoiding the rush, he'll be a starting level player. If not, he'll look like Weinke did once he got hurt.

10. Jason Gesser - enough talent to make immediate impact. Arm's live, good release, enough raw talent to be considered a one day starter. Needs not to give up the body so much.

honorable mentions:
Tony Romo - obvious leap in playing speed and surroundings but certainly an intriguing prospect
Brad Banks - he's not accurate, he's not strong, he's got project written all over him. But someone'll draft him to attempt to think outside the box and will end up getting a good backup.
St. Pierre - steady, has a little fire, and has a lot of room to grow. Won't be counted on to start one day, but don't count him out.


By the way I rank next year's as:
1. Manning (if)
2. Navarre
3. Clausen, unless he comes back to top form
4. Lorenzen, UK
5. Roethlisburger, Mi(OH)
6. Ryan Dinwiddie, Boise St., most efficient passer this year, and high yardage
7. Rivers **
8. Chris Lewis, Stanford
9. Brock Berlin, Miami **

 

Leftwich will probably not have many 16 game seasons. Dorsey is better than Grossman for whatever that amounts to. And after that, I'd say history may indicate that at least 1 maybe 2 QBs not in that top 10 list will gain NFL starting jobs before half the lot...

 

I am willing to bet that if Leftwich is available at #9, that the Panthers will take him or trade the pick

They will not trade up under the current philosophy, and will probably take the best available player.

I would not be suprised to see a free agent QB picked up, (using the phuilosophy that you don't need an MPV quaterback to win a championship).

Fox is committed to a running attack, and IMO he will get another running back in FA or draft no matter if Foster comes back or not

WR, and OL in free agency as well as draft

In summary I think they will stay @ pick 9

But what do I know, they have not asked for my opinon yet.

 

I tend to agree that they won't give up much if anything to move up. I still think if Leftwich falls to us it will be divine intervention and we really need to draft him. Otherwise, sit and wait to see who is there.

 

i would take rex grossman 4th on that list